Different Kind of Violence

My mother is not only becoming a perfect teacher at a time I need one, but she is also becoming a very good friend. Here is what she had to tell me after my last post:

Politics, war and cruelty have been occurring for years. But we have to take time-out to be strong and clear, and then maybe, right and helpful actions will rise out of us. Too much work must be done and we don’t have too much time, because of this urgency we cannot waste our time and energy. We have to have peace to talk about peace. Otherwise we are dealing with another different kind of violence. Forget about the war and the world, and think and work on yourself for at least for one week. I think the world can handle itself without your frustration and anxiety for a week.

I think part of our frustration is that we think we are important. We think we can fix the world, or that we can solve all the problems by ourselves. We think we are really somebody. Please don't take this negatively. I’m not saying that we are nobody and can't do anything, so we should remain ignorant, but rather that there are no problems to be solved. Life is mystery not a problem to be solved.

I think sometimes it is the time to sit and be quiet and listen to the world. Listen and see what the world wants from us, not what we want from the world. I think there are numerous ways to be effective and helpful in the world. We need to sit and find the way that the world wants from us. The question is: Are we willing to take some time-out to receive our responsibilities in this world? Are we allowing ourselves to gather our energies and abilities to be helpful? Are we allowing ourselves to become intimate with our feelings? Do we want to be clear about our mission?

One of the women teachers here said that she gets very frustrated with world. She asked Reb, who is her teacher, "We chant to save all beings, but how can the world be saved, by sewing Buddha's robe?” Reb answered, “May be you can't save the world, but the world can be saved from you.”

Is working on oneself and having peace helpful to the world or not?